First off, Happy Father’s Day to all the dad’s out there! I am so grateful to celebrate dad’s, especially the wonderful dad’s in my life. My own dad is the best dad ever, and has always been my hero. My late father-in-law took me in as his own and treated me like family from day one. My husband, not my dad, but the best dad my kids could have, and most especially, my Heavenly Father who loves me enough to help me become better and wants me to come home. So, Happy Father’s Day to all you Dad’s!

One of the prompts today was the question – What is your favorite thing about yourself. I like how this question is phrased. Recently I watched a short video about a similar question, one I am not as fond of the phrasing on – What is your least favorite part of your body.

In the video they asked adults this question first. Every single adult without exception had at least one thing they didn’t like about their body, most of them had many things. They then asked a group of elementary aged kids. Not a single child had anything they disliked about their bodies. They came in all shapes and sizes, all races and ethnicities. Not a single complaint.

The kids have not been tainted by the world yet, I decided. I have pondered on why we as adults have so many body issues. I have come up with several reasons that this might be.

1 – Social Media. This one will affect people differently, it depends on what circles you run in. But there are groups dedicated to how you want to be perceived, how you want to look, what you are interested in, etc. All these have perceived dress standards and codes. Most of these are not written, and some are necessary, but we get all sorts of ideas from social media on how we should look based upon how we want to be perceived.

2 – Advertising. Until just a few years ago, all clothing was advertised on abnormally thin models, might I saw, unrealistic for the general population. I might also add, unhealthy for the general population and probably for the models. I have been impressed the last few years that most clothing companies now utilize models of all shapes and sizes which I think actually promotes a better self image, but I still think advertising contributes.

3 – Filters. Every app has filters for their photos. They can make you look younger, skinnier, more muscular, whatever. People portray out into the world on social media and other internet locations, this false image of who they are. The problem is, out in the world there are no filters so people become more self conscious or reclusive. This leads to loneliness, depression, anxiety, and a whole gamut of other problems.

4 – Medical Advice. Now, this one is quite necessary. We live in a society where obesity and other types of illnesses that affect body perception have consequences, like diabetes, heart diseases, and cancer risks, which increase exponentially because of these medical conditions that need to be taken care of. But I think even with that, we hear we need to lose weight and the first thing that comes to mind is a perception of fit and thin that seems unattainable because to get to that point would be so physically demanding and rigorous that it feels beyond our capacity, so we stay stuck.

How do we fix this? I’m not sure, but I think changing the question is a start – What do you love about your body? As mentioned in number 4, there are reasons to work on taking care of our bodies. But there is no one size fits all body type. We are all unique, some people are naturally stocky, others are naturally lanky, some people are short, other’s are tall. Everyone carries muscle and fat differently, and there are good kinds of fat, necessary fat that every person’s body needs to function properly and stay healthy.

Because of that video several weeks ago, I have thought a lot about how I perceive my body. I do get caught up in wanting to look a certain way sometimes. But as I’ve gotten older, I realize that more than how I look, the better question is how do I feel. For me, I want to feel capable, capable enough to go help my husband build houses, capable enough to get out in the woods and cut firewood with my family, capable enough to go hike at the drop of a hat and not worry about what the trail is like.

I have never really had a body image issue. I have generally liked how I look and felt good about my body most of my life. But I also know that to maintain what I’d like to do in life it requires thoughtful (and physical) work on my part, not because I’m not happy with my body, but because I want to continue being capable.